Loreauville's Alexander excelling in freshman season

Loureauville quarterback A'Zyrian Alexander looks for an open receiver in the Catholic New Iberia defense during the second quarter of Catholic's game with Loreauville on Friday night in Loreauville.(Photo11: John Rowland/Special to the Advertiser)Buy Photo

Catholic of New Iberia coach Brent Indest doesn't seem like the type of coach to throw out high praise flippantly.

He's brutally honest. So when Indest called Loreauville freshman quarterback Zy Alexander one of the best freshman quarterbacks he's seen in the lead up to the Panthers' showdown with the Tigers, it was noteworthy.

And although Alexander was knocked out of the game following a hit, the freshman proved while he was in that he deserved the high praise from his opponent's coach.

Alexander hit a long touchdown pass to JeDan Jacob and flashed a strong arm, the ability to hit underneath throws and extend plays with his legs — everything anyone could ask from a quarterback.

"He makes you defend the whole field," said Loreauville coach Trent Delahoussaye. "He can go deep and he can hit those hitch throws and the underneath short slants and stuff. The hardest thing to defend is when you have to defend the whole field and Zy does that."

Delahoussaye said that when Alexander was in junior high, the Tigers' coaching staff knew he had potential, but weren't sure how he would respond to the step up in competition.

But as soon as he got into practice, Loreauville knew it could be a better team by slotting Alexander into the starting role.

It allowed one of the Tigers' best overall athletes, Bryson Broussard, to move to receiver and out into space where he could hurt teams with his speed.

"I knew he had the potential coming into this year," Delahoussaye said. "But you never know what you're going to get when a kid goes from playing kids his own age to this level. But we gave him the opportunity and saw how special he was. We knew we would be a better football team with him in there."

Delaoussaye said, other than the obvious physical traits Alexander possesses, it's his mind and hunger to be better that are his best attributes.

After being knocked out of the game against the Panthers, Alexander showed up to the Saturday film session despite Delahoussaye telling him to stay home.

Anytime a freshman starts at quarterback, turnovers are going to be a worry, but they haven't been a problem for Alexander this season, Delahoussaye said.

"He's like a sponge. You only have to tell him one time," Delahoussaye said. "You tell him to look for something next time and he does it. He grasped the offense and reads and is making the right decisions.

"Other than the one fumble against the Panthers, he's done a great job of taking care of the ball."

And despite his youth, Alexander has assumed a leadership role on the team, with the seniors respecting their quarterback.

Although he still has improvements to make, the Tigers appear to have a real building block moving forward.

"He needs to continue to get stronger and put on a little weight, but he's so young that will come. The one thing you can't control is your height, and he has that," Delahoussaye said. "A lot of freshman try to be leaders, but the seniors won't follow them. They've kind of gravitated to him and understand he's the quarterback. He's very well-liked in the locker room."